Connor thumbed the air over his shoulder. “Of course not. We’re at a bed and breakfast by the ocean, and you’re staying at the Marriott with room service and girls on film.”
“Sounds like you’re not too impressed with the new babe?”
Miles laughed. “Oh, yes, he is. He’s been all over that.”
“I’m stunned,” Jeff said, holding his chest. “Connor chasing a woman? Never would’ve thought.”
Callan shifted in the front seat. “Where this gal is concerned, even you could fall in love, Jeff.”
“I don’t think so.”
Connor chuckled. “Love is the only four-letter word Jeff knows.”
“Damn straight.”
“So what do you think about her, Callan?” Jeff asked, shaking him by the shoulders.
Callan turned around again and shot him a wholesome grin. “Me gooter gets downright excited thinking about Miss Paige’s growler.”
A group chuckle followed, and Jeff said, “What was that, a combination of Irish slang and Middle Tennessee hick lingo?”
“What I’m saying is…”
“We know,” Connor grumbled. “Your dick gets plumb hard thinking about Paige’s pretty little pussy.”
“Something like that,” Callan admitted. Satisfied he’d been translated properly and apparently ready to sleep, Callan settled into his bucket seat and pulled a baseball cap over his brows.
“Oh, man, I almost forgot.” Jeff reached in his pocket and brought out an envelope. “Packed full of nude pics especially for you, Connor.”
“I don’t want ’em. Dead women don’t interest me in the least.”
“What?” Jeff asked, eyeing Miles. “Did he fall in a respectable pussy while I’ve been working my ass off in BFE handling the porn stars of tomorrow?”
“No,” Callan grumbled. “He’d like to. She doesn’t seem that interested.”
“Yet,” Connor added. “I have a good feeling her opinion will soon change.”
“Is she really that hot?”
“She’s the definition,” Miles said miserably.
“Then what’s the problem?” Jeff asked, wondering why three of his fellow teammates came to pick him up instead of one. “Where’s Adam, by the way?”
Miles shot him a sideways glance. Connor checked the mirror. Callan turned all the way around in his seat. All their expressions were priceless. “Damn, boys! She must be something if Adam sent all of you on a road trip!”
“Yeah,” Miles said. “And that’s not the worst part.”
“Oh, no?” Jeff laughed. “You mean there’s more?”
“You ought to see what this brassy bitch has in her basement.”
“I hope you’re going to tell me fine wine. I’ve had about all the surprises I can stand for one decade. This job with the illegal prostitution ring almost got the best of me. The assignment had everything good movies are made of—drugs, sex, beautiful women, gangsters, cartel wannabes, and let’s not forget the free-flowing alcohol. Did I mention sex?”
“You poor thing,” Connor mumbled. “I guess seeing tits and ass morning, noon, and night isn’t what it’s cracked up to be.”
“Not really. Considering the empty hearts and decrepit souls behind those large breasts, this was a forgettable mission. Believe me.”
“Can I get a group ‘ohhhh’?” Connor remarked. “Let’s show him some pity.”
“Okay, so the banging broad has a cellar,” Jeff said, returning to business as usual. “What does she have down there? The suspense is killing me.”
“What she has in her basement isn’t the problem,” Connor informed him, taking a left off the exit ramp. “Paige Lambert has at least one weapon guaranteed to get a man killed.”
Miles laughed. “I’d second that. If Connor doesn’t stop sniffing around our hostess, he may sustain fatal injuries.”
“Maybe a broken heart,” Connor grumbled.
“You’ve already banged her,” Jeff teased. “Damn boy, you move faster than I do.”
“I wish I could tell you what you want to hear,” Connor said, accelerating all at once.
“Are we in a hurry?” Jeff teased. “All this talk about the little lady got you thinking about Adam moving in on your territory?”
“No, but I have a feeling if we don’t get back to JekyllIsland, Paige Lambert may try something with Adam.”
“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard,” Jeff said. “Adam is a big boy. He can take care of himself. Why don’t you admit the truth? You’re horny. It’s been so long since you’ve had a woman, you can’t stand the thought of Adam moving in on your lone prospect.”
“Adam isn’t an obstacle,” Connor promised. “We have another little problem with our sexy hostess.”
“Define little.”
Connor and Callan exchanged a peculiar glance. “Show him,” Connor finally said.
Callan flipped through frames on his laptop computer and then passed the notebook to Jeff. “Meet Paige. Scroll down. Meet her friends.”
Jeff took hold of the notebook and clicked through the images. “My God.”
“Oh, she has some beautiful toys,” Miles said. “Guaranteed to set a man right.”
Jeff minimized the screen and logged online. In a matter of minutes, he started placing intel requests, trying to figure out what terrorist groups had unlimited access to weapons like those in Paige’s basement. “Where in the bloody hell does a woman like this get her hands on guns like these?”
“That’s what we’d like to know,” Connor retorted.
“Did anyone ask her?” Jeff asked.
“Oh, you mean in between Connor kissing her and Callan watching her swim a couple of miles out into the ocean?”
“She didn’t have her clothes,” Callan reminded. “And let me say, swimming never looked sexier.”
“I’ll bet,” Jeff replied. “She did that?”
“Absolutely,” Miles said, wagging his tongue. “Mighty sweet view she allowed us, too.”
“It was the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen in my life,” Callan said, obviously smitten.
“See what I mean?” Miles said. “She’s ruined them for better women.”
“We’d be hard pressed to find a better woman,” Connor complained.
Jeff flipped back to the data stored on Callan’s computer. He pulled up several pictures of Paige Lambert. “She is pretty.”
“She’s amazing,” Callan said.
Jeff eyed Miles. “Let me guess, she swam the breast stroke and made a show out of the leg movements.”
“Something like that,” Miles muttered.
“She has cat-like eyes. I could go for those—bedroom, dreamy. Boys, she’s all but mine.” Jeff liked to taunt them. “Connor, you should’ve moved a little faster, old boy.”
Connor shot him a blank look. Poor guy. He must’ve realized he was dead serious. The swimming naked thing sort of hooked Jeff. He loved a confident woman, especially one who wasn’t afraid to show her body to the world.
“She’s high strung,” Miles remarked. “I don’t think anyone will have a problem with you moving in. We can’t do anything with her. Hell, I’d toss her in your bed and gladly watch her break you in!”
“What’s wrong, bro? Not into taking one for the team?” A strike later, Jeff said, “One of us will need to bed the bitch. It’s the only way to keep her in line.”
“She’s not a bitch, per se,” Miles stated quietly.
Connor slammed on the brakes and turned around to face him. “She’s not.”
“Okay,” Jeff said, an octave higher. “I believe you. She’s not a bitch. Is she a slut?”
Connor set his jaw. Apparently not. Damn.
“What do you call swimming nude in broad daylight?”
“She doesn’t like to be told what to do,” Connor answered, sighing. “Her public exhibition doesn’t mean she’s easy. She’s older, by the way, but I get the impression she hasn’t been one to sleep around.”
“Older?
”
Connor looked in the mirror again, and his eyes met Jeff’s. “Yes, but not necessarily wise to men like us.”
“Hmm…so you mean to tell me if I lead her astray, she might teach me a thing or two?”
“You’re not going to lead her anywhere,” Miles told him in a matter-of-fact voice.
“So she’s independent as hell and that’s why she went off and experimented with a little exhibitionism?” Jeff shrugged. “I can’t wait to push her buttons.”
“Adam assigned two of us to her room. She didn’t like the arrangement. Adam wanted Callan to get close to her, and that may have been working fine until he decided he wanted to spend his nights guarding her.”
“Adam?” Jeff scratched his chin. “That’s odd. Adam never takes a hands-on approach.”
“Like I said, this chick is straight-up smokin’ hot,” Miles grunted, and that alone drove home his point.
“She may be as hot as a high noon sun, but Adam still wears a little gold band around the third finger of his left hand.”
“Ha! Haven’t you heard?” Callan asked, the tone in the SUV changing all at once. “He’s single again.”
“You’re joshing me!” Jeff exclaimed. “He finally caught the darling Darla?” Jeff hoped he gave her one hell of a send-off. “Tell me he packed her bags and booted her ass to the curb.”
“Apparently so. Since they didn’t have kids together, they got what I’d call a drive-through divorce. They filed, paid, and signed. The service was fast, efficient, and sure to leave a bitter taste in his mouth.”
“This is certainly good news.” Jeff, like the other guys, had tired of hearing all about Adam’s ex-wife when they returned to the ranch for training or breaks. It was bad enough that she cheated on him. But worse than that, she’d used the guards Adam hired to chauffeur her from town to town. Her bodyguards often waited for hours while she screwed around at various hotels.
Jeff once thought about hiring an outside investigator so he could show Adam the pictures of his wife with her numerous bed partners. The other guys didn’t want any part of it. In the end, he listened to them. If Adam wanted his wife and all her bad habits, there wasn’t a thing they could do except be there for him when he finally caught her red-handed.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Jeff said thoughtfully. “Adam is a free man.”
“Yeah,” Connor said. “Of course, we all get a glimpse of what the future holds for us, right?”
“Uh-huh,” Jeff muttered. “We don’t stand a chance at hooking women on a mission.”
“Trick is, we have to make sure Adam keeps his pants up. If women get a load of what he has between his legs, it’s all over. I remember trying to move in on one of his ex-girlfriends.”
Jeff smiled at Connor’s recollection. “I remember that too.”
“The freaking woman asked me if I was hung like my boss. I made the mistake of telling her yeah, and I was quickly shown the door when she discovered a slight discrepancy.”
“Is that what you call the difference between seven and eleven inches nowadays?” Jeff teased.
Miles groaned. “We also have to put up with his ridiculous come-on lines. I can almost hear him now. When a woman tells him he has bedroom eyes, he’ll say something corny like, ‘They get bluer and bluer looking at you.’ We know how he is.”
They shared a group laugh.
“By the looks of things, someone did all right working solo,” Callan said, pointing at Jeff’s neck.
Jeff fingered the lingering stamp of lust, realizing he couldn’t escape the taunting. “You should’ve seen her, boys. She went at cock like a man goes at sweet Southern bread pudding.”
“Is that even possible?” Miles asked.
Jeff wagged his tongue. “One of these days, the right gal will come along and make a believer out of ya.”
“Don’t count on our B&B hostess,” Miles complained.
Jeff yawned, settled his head against the neck rest, and relived some recent memories. God, he left behind one hell of a mission. He’d met one beautiful woman after the next, all of them working for a no-good boss with an expensive drug habit. It would do him some good to meet a woman who didn’t have powder on her nose and a caution flag waving between her legs. Better still, he didn’t have to worry about being thrown in intimate situations with a target.
He liked Paige already.
Yep, Jeff was anxious to meet Miss Lambert. If she was woman enough to get these guys all worked up, maybe she liked to play with more than one loaded gun. Maybe he’d do the fellas a favor and ask.
Chapter Six
Adam’s hands wandered. He was driven by instinct and chemistry. He had no self-control, but what kind of man kissed a responsive woman without trying to kick things up a notch? What great sin did he commit by trying to take things a tad bit further? His fingers did the walking, and his hands did the sliding.
“I said ‘no,’ but let me go ahead and add ‘not on your life.’”
Now, he’d listen. “Man, that was sure sweet,” he said with a deep breath, backing away from another lip-twisting, tongue-twirling kiss. “What are you trying to do to me?”
“What do you mean?”
“I saw you kiss Connor, and what you two shared wasn’t anything like this. Nothing. You want me,” he boldly told her. “You’d love nothing more than to lay me down and do me dirty.”
Her eyes sparkled with pure crystal. They looked like solid ice, but they were as empty as a glacier’s frigid center. “It’s not going to happen.” A few seconds later, she said, “I have an idea, though.”
Adam doubted that one. He thought his explicit notions trumped all others. He slid his palm across the front of his pants when she turned her back. He could still hope. Maybe this suggestion of hers would bring him some measure of relief. He’d been without sex for almost a year. At this point, he’d settle for a helping hand—one where he did the deed but her body inspired and provoked the outcome.
She disappeared inside and returned a few seconds later. She held a large deck of cards in her hands. “Let’s play poker.”
“You want to play five-card stud? Bet I could find four men who’d take a seat at our table.”
Her gaze lowered. “I want to play something else. Come inside. Sit down on the bed.”
“Aren’t you a little too old for games?”
“Is that an age-related insult?”
“Not at all.” Actually, it was.
Adam didn’t like women who turned up the heat and then offered a cold shoulder. Men had a little harder time than their lovely counterparts. The gals expected their fellows to chill out upon request, thaw without contact. Sometimes, Adam thought, running his hand over his thick cock, things didn’t work out like that.
Women like Paige didn’t understand a man’s law of gravity. When a man’s penis stood up, it didn’t go down without some coaxing. Unless, of course, it was ignored long enough. Adam quickly accepted his predicament. His cock was shrinking fast.
For some reason, he followed Paige anyway, in spite of the disappointing turn of events. Her swaying hips encouraged him to abide by her rules, but when she threw the card deck straight across the bed, he knew he’d been had. “What the ever-lovin’ hell are you doing?” He eyed the faces staring up at him from several cards.
“We’re playing fifty-two card pick-up. Start picking them up.” He’d only looked away for a second, hardly long enough to eye the cards scattered across the colorful comforter. When the soft click-click of a cocked gun rang throughout the room, Adam realized he’d diverted his attention away from her one moment longer than he cared to spare.
“What are you doing, Paige?”
“We’re playing cards. Go on. Pick them up. Look at them one by one. Tell me who you see on the face of each card.
“When you get to the queens, tell me which one has your interest. That’s why you’re here, so shuffle up. I’ve already dealt your hand. Now, all you need to do is locate the Queen of He
arts, the real reason you chose my bed and breakfast when you came to JekyllIsland.”
Immediately, he swung his gaze toward her mess. “The Queen of Hearts?”
“Yes,” she said, inching closer to the bed. She scooped up a handful of cards and waved them in front of him. “Go through the deck! Tell me who you’re looking for!”
Adam sat on the mattress. What the hell had he been thinking? Since they’d arrived at Paige’s oceanfront bed and breakfast, everything had been chaotic.
Adam should’ve made contact with another team working at Sea Island, but that hadn’t happened. At this stage in the mission, the team should’ve toured Jekyll and should’ve known the area so well they could’ve walk its beaches in their sleep. Instead, Adam had been mesmerized by the beautiful owner of the bed and breakfast. He’d wanted to touch her, hold her, caress her silken hair, and encourage her to trust him. And why? Oh, that’s right—so she could hold a gun over his head.
His common sense deserted him when he needed it most.
Adam lacked a few brain cells when it came to beautiful women. He didn’t have a lick of good sense. He’d signed away all of that back when he married his former wife. His brains were always in his pants, which is precisely where they’d been since his men left for Hilton Head.
“These cards don’t have anything to do with us,” Adam mumbled, picking up a few and tossing them aside.
“They’re yours!”
“They may be, but how do they relate to you? Why do you think they have something to do with me? They’re cards. That’s all they are. Damn cards!”
“You vvread them!”
The thick pronunciation of vowels, especially the long sounding “ou” coupled with the rolling “r” alarmed Adam. Where was this woman from? What was she doing in the United States? She obviously wasn’t an American, or was she an American who just so happened to travel a lot and picked up the dialect as she visited other countries?
No, he didn’t buy that.
He revisited his earlier notion that she might be a target. Did she know someone in the deck? And if so, how had they failed to make a connection when they researched her background?
“I said vvrread them!” The thick dialect continued. She shook the gun high in the air.
Blaine, Destiny - Breakfast by the Sea (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 6
